'Digital TV channel Davie' - you kill me Drum.

aye, they're nice

These ads have crushed my dreams - nice though.

dreaming of a better life? forget it and give the money you earn in a soul-crushing job to us instead - nice.

Yeah very nice. Shame the website isn't working. Good going Realise et al.

Excellent and created by a real ad agency - not a bunch of digital decorators for once.
How refreshing.

Face it. Your dreams are over. You'll never amount to anything. The rest of your life? It's going to dwindle away in a soul-crushing slog of disappointment and mortgage repayments. Go on, give up. And then log onto www.dutifully-shovel-huge-amounts-of-your-money-into-a-pension-that-will...

Anonymous @ Tue 26 Jan 2010 12:16

- "Shame the website isn't working".

In fairness, "The campaign will launch from Saturday 30 January".

The article clearly states that the campaign launches on Jan 30th, so no surprise that the site does not work yet! Bloody nice creative, refreshing to see.

To: Tue 26 Jan 2010 13:35 and 13:39

Why promote it on an industry rag when the site's not live?

Are premature press releases are a problem among middle-aged marketers these days?

I don't think the article actually points people to the site, people must be picking it up from the creative which is unfort.

Are people really rating this or being ironic, it's hard to tell. I find it possibly the most depressing piece of creative strategy (the craft's fine) I've seen - possibly ever.

Just what we all need in the midst of recession and financial misery - our dreams quashed and a reminder that the future is bleak, ironically enough because of the like of Standard Life. Nice enough copy and art direction but a brand/client with no self awareness and a strategy without any real insight. Good craft wasted on a turkey of a brief

The way I read it (and I'm not connected to the project before anyone cries out) - it's not bleak. It's witty. And it's saying just in case... also Standard Life as far as I know having made the move away from mutual a few years back have I THINK been pretty responsible in their activities.

At the end of the day a pension is all about covering your behind should the pennies not descend from heaven. If you analyse it enough it is negative. In the same way life insurance is ultimately about death. So I think this approaches is it in an honest, engaging fashion.

What's more in theory at the bottom end of a recession now is the time to invest because (unless you get the 'dead cat bouncing' effect again) it should be on the up. So you'll get more bang for your buck.

Now I feel sick. I'm a creative and I sound like a suit. Pass me the revolver and my life insurance policy. But let my last words be, I like it.

Standard Life just got a huge fine from FSA for mis-selling a pension fund. Hardly keeping their nose clean. And if there is a tiny silver lining for savers it gets nowhere near making up for the years of low returns and tiny growth in peoples' pensions. Pensions are dead.

I said as far as I know. Which isn't very far at all obviously. But the rest I still stand by. Pensions may be dead but for some people it's the only option. Actually if we all want to go doom and gloom most forms of investment are dead. So let's not try and come up with good creative ideas with cut thru for them. After all we'd all still get paid and have jobs wouldn't we?

You're right investment vehicles are dead. Spend what you earn now and enjoy life – whether it's unrealistic or not. The only reason pensions get shoved down your throat by the establishment is because they get rich off everyone's delusions of a great life after work. If you die the day after you retire your pension company keep the lot! The Govt make a huge amount of your savings too so they all win. Except Joe Punter and that's why you should all wake up and stop saving.

The 'be realistic about saving' thought is not bad in itself. The 'face it - nothing special will happen to you in your life' is profoundly depressing.

Perhaps Standard Life's products appeal only to people with standard lives. Therefore the creative is probably quite apt. 'Got no ambitions? Got no dreams? Got no ideas of your own?'

Personally I'd rather take the risk, and it if doesn't pay off, there's always Vietnam and a suicide pact for when the money runs out.

Banzai.......

It's like a kindergarten in here. Isn't the campaign just a play on the idle dreams all of us have but few realise for perfectly good reasons (eg lack of time, motivation and talent) - ie what if I paint a masterpiece or write a book and make a fortune - that would be great. The kind of stuff you think about when you're on the bog. I don't see this ad as crushing all dreams - just the unrealistic ones.

Or do people who daydream about writing a kiddies book seriously consider it an "ambition" and consider their lives "unfulfilled" if they don't do it?

Tell you one thing that would mildly interest me – whether this softly, softly, nicey, nicey approach is more effective than Scottish Widows banging on about 40% tax relief when you save in a pension. Which creates more hits to sites and writes more business. We need a case study-off! SL likely to be noticed and engaged with more but will it change people's attitudes to saving?